Never Really Out
by Dramaqueen545
Summary: Lindsay Stark thought she was done with SHIELD, but when Coulson comes to her and informs her Barton's been compromised, she realizes she was never out of their grasp at all. Now she must return to a life she was trying to leave and help stop an angry God from taking over the world and save a fellow agent in the process.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! So this is my first Avengers fanfiction, so reviews and constructive criticism are welcome. I, unfortunately, do not own the Avengers or anything else you recognize, those are owned by Marvel. I only own my OCs. Anywho, hope you all enjoy!**

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><p>Coulson was tired.<p>

It had been six hours since Loki had rained his assault on their base, and in those past hours Coulson had been busy trying to fix the large pile of trouble they now found themselves in, including the lose of one of their best agents. The lose of Barton was especially hard on him, considering the fact that he had been with him since the beginning of his career with SHIELD.

"Coulson." The sound of his boss's voice knocked Coulson out of his temporary state; he turned around and watched as Nick Fury walked into the makeshift headquarters they were forced to stay in until the hellicarrier was ready for them. Phil cleared his throat before walking a few feet toward the other man.

"Agent Romanov has been contacted, she is on her way to retrieve Doctor Banner."

"And Stark?" Fury asked quickly, his voice masked of all emotion. "Any word on him?"

"I'm on my way to New York to see him now." Fury nodded as he stopped at the computer screen in the middle of the room. Coulson took the silence coming from his boss as his cue to leave and collect the billionaire in New York, so he turned on his heels and began walking out of the room.

"We need to bring her in." Coulson stopped dead in his tracks upon hearing his boss's words, he didn't need Fury to clarify to know who he was referring to, only one person knew Clint almost as well as Natasha did. He slowly turned around so he was facing Fury again, whose eyes were dark and seemed to be asking for Coulson to argue with him.

"She won't be happy about this."

"We need every available agent to help bring Barton back," Fury explained as he pressed a few keys on the keyboard. "She's one of the best."

"She's also retired," Coulson responded quickly, earning him a glare from his superior.

"No one retires from SHIELD," Fury bit out before returning to typing in the computer. "Bring her back."

"After two years, she's not going to come back easily."

"You were her handler, correct?" Coulson merely nodded, his eyes still trained on Fury. "So handle her." He turned back to the computer and continued typing, not speaking another word to Colson, who simply sighed and made his way out of the room, trying to come up with a plan to get his old charge back to SHIELD in one piece.

It was almost impossible for Lindsay Stark to find time to herself anymore. Between juggling her eighteen credit course load of classes, flying from Omaha to New York every so often to deal with her father and help Pepper with a few things, and hang out with her friends, she was lucky she wasn't failing out of school yet. But, after some careful planning and last minute rearranging of her normally hectic schedule, she had done it. She had given herself just enough time to sit under a tree outside her dorm and relax in the crisp Nebraska air. The sounds of people walking around campus didn't affect her in the slightest, she just blocked them out as best she could and focused on the task at hand.

The light of the sun coated the notebook Lindsay had resting on her lap, accenting the detailed drawing she had been working on for the past few days. The half-drawn face of a man stared back at Lindsay as she made small marks with her pencil, etching in a small cut on the man's cheek, right above the stubble that covered his face.

"What are you doing here?" Lindsay asked calmly, her pencil never stopping its constant motion over the paper. Coulson removed his shades and slowly sat down next to the young girl, a small smile gracing his lips.

"Homework?" he asked, eyeing the thick red notebook the girl was filling with a small, detailed drawing. Lindsay shrugged slowly as continued shading the image.

"Just something to calm myself down; I had a Psychology test today." Coulson laughed and shook his head slowly.

"How does Tony Stark's only child become a shrink?" Lindsay paused her pencil for a moment and looked up at Coulson, her lips parted in a smile.

"What can I say; I'm good at analyzing people." As she calmly went back to drawing, Coulson looked over her for the first time since he arrived only moments before. This was not the young girl he remembered from the last time he had seen her. No, she was a woman now; her thick brown hair was longer than it had ever been, reaching down to her lower back before curling slightly. Her brown eyes were gleaming in the late autumn sunlight, as was the silver chain that wrapped several times around her neck.

"Are you going to continue staring at me," Lindsay asked, not looking up from the book, a small smirk working its way onto her face. "Or are you going to tell me why you came all the way out here to find me."

"It wasn't that far," Coulson said as he reached into his jacket pocket. Lindsay paused her pencil again, moved her eyes so she was looking at the older man, and raised one of her thin eyebrows.

"I go to school in Omaha." Coulson smirked as he continued to dig through his jacket pocket until he found what he was looking for. Pulling the object out, he set it on top of her notebook. Once Lindsay looked at it long enough to figure out what it was, her pencil slid down the page, marking areas she had not intended to mark. The small black symbol stood out against the white paper, making it impossible to miss the all-to-familiar logo of SHIELD.

"Fury sends his regards," Coulson said, trying to gage Lindsay's response to the band. She snorted and nudged the band off her book with the pencil's eraser.

"I can see that." She stared at the logo for several seconds before shaking her head. "I'm not doing it, Phil."

"Lindsay…"

"I'm happy here." She looked at him, her brown eyes a mixture of anger and fear. "I won't." Coulson stared at her for several long, tense moments before speaking.

"Barton's been compromised." Lindsay felt a mixture of emotions as Coulson's words sunk in. After a few moment of thought, she glared at the older man.

"Does Natasha know? Isn't _she_ his partner?" She stood up quickly and began putting her stuff into her brown leather bag. Coulson stared at the girl, trying to think of a way to keep her from leaving.

"Agent Romanov knows." Lindsay rolled her eyes as she finished putting everything in her bag, cringing a bit as she thought about the last time she had laid eyes on Natasha, or Clint for that matter. "But Fury wants you to help…"

"There is no way I am helping her do anything." Lindsay glared at Coulson, who was still sitting under the tree. "Hell, I won't even get in the same room as her if I can help it."

"You're being unreasonable," Coulson said as he stood. Lindsay gave him a look like he had just told her Fury moonlights as a drag queen. Lifting her bag onto her shoulder, she clenched her teeth and started turning in the direction of her dorm room.

"Goodbye Coulson." She was about ten feet away from him when he said something that made her stop.

"I see you still have your tattoo." Lindsay turned slowly and glared at him; he simply smiled at her. The small black design was mostly hidden by her black tank top, but Lindsay was guessing Coulson hadn't seen it, he was just assuming she hadn't gotten it removed. He would have been right. She sighed; Coulson slipped her sunglasses back on as he watched the girl's internal battle.

"I'll think about it." Coulson smiled and turned around to return to his car. Lindsay watched him go, wondering what the hell she had just gotten herself into.

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><p><strong>As I said before, reviews and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is welcomed. And when I say constructive, I mean tell me what I can do to make it better, or tell me what you like, please don't just review it and say it sucks. I've gotten those reviews before and they are not the most fun to read.<br>Oh! And any ideas on who Lindsay was drawing? It is an actual person in the Marvel universe, someone from the movies, so anyone know who it could be?  
><strong>


	2. Chapter 2

Sweat rolled off her face as Lindsay continued to punch and kick the giant bag that hung in the center of the room. She had dropped her book bag off in her room as soon as Coulson had left and drove herself to a small gym in the middle of Omaha. The gym was the first building off-campus she had been to when she first moved to Nebraska; a few local boys used it on the off-season to help bulk up for football. She was currently the only person in the building, which is how she normally liked it.

After ten more minutes of the intense assault she was raining down on the bag, she gasped for air and back away; the bag was swinging dangerously quickly back-and-forth.

"You hit that thing any harder and I'm going to have to hang it up again." Lindsay turned around at the sound of the voice, smiling once she located the source.

Alex Rivera smiled as he walked toward Lindsay, tugging on his jacket as he moved closer to the girl. His thick black hair was slicked back; the small scar over his left eyebrow standing out against his caramel-colored skin. Alex was the owner of the gym and had slowly become a friend of Lindsay's as she began frequenting the building more and more.

"That's sort of the point." Alex smirked at her as he made his way across the large room, finally stopping once he was about a foot in front of her.

"Don't you have a class today?" he asked as Lindsay turned around to wipe some sweat off her face. She simply shrugged, old t-shirt removing the liquid from her skin.

"Probably not going to go."

"Why not?" Lindsay turned her head and stared at Alex, one of her arms halfway through her black t-shirt.

"Don't really feel like going." Alex raised an eyebrow at the girl, a look of confusion evident on his face.

"Since when do you not want to go to your art class?"

"Since now," she said, wiping her forehead once again before putting the old shirt back into her gym bag. Alex leaned up against one of the walls and snorted.

"That's a lame excuse." Lindsay rolled her eyes and glared at him.

"Yeah well, it's the only one you're going to get." She pulled her brown hair into a ponytail and walked closer to Alex, who just kept on staring at her. "When do you leave for New York?" she asked curiously.

"Tomorrow. I need to be there before my parents' flight gets in."

"I think it's sweet that your parents are flying from Columbia to see you." Alex rolled his eyes and smirked at the woman across from him, who was smirking right back at him.

"Oh yeah, because flying to cold, wet New York is so much better than the trip I was planning on taking this summer to Columbia, where it is warm and sunny almost all the time." Lindsay laughed at the frustration clearly evident in his voice.

"Hey, I get it man, I don't like New York either." She turned around to grab her bag, before noticing Alex casually staring at her as she bent over. "Like what you see?"

"Yes," Alex muttered as Lindsay leaned up and closed the gap between them with a kiss, breathing in his smell. A mixture of cigar smoke and the cleaning supplies they used at the gym; it made her head spin.

The chords of Lindsay's favorite AC/DC song began playing from her pocket, causing Lindsay to groan.

"Ignore it," Alex stated before kissing her yet again. Lindsay hit the top button on her phone, effectively silencing the room, before wrapping her arms around his neck. They remained like that for several seconds before the chords returned.

"What does he want?" Lindsay groaned as she fished her phone out of her sweat-pants. Pressing the green button, she lifted the small device to her ear. "Make it quick, I'm busy."

"Did Coulson talk to you?" Tony Stark's voice resonated through the phone, making Lindsay roll her eyes.

"Why, did he talk to you?" She felt Alex staring at her, waiting for her to end the call.

"He just left the place." He paused for a second before finishing his statement. "With Pepper." Lindsay smirked at her father's voice.

"Did you call me to see if Pepper is cheating on you with Phil?"

"No!" Tony yelled, making Lindsay smirk more. "Besides, I doubt that man could ever get a woman."

"He was seeing that cellist." Alex coughed, making Lindsay turn toward him. He had his arms crossed over his chest and a smirk on his face. Lindsay mouthed the word 'sorry' and turned back to the phone-call. "I have to go Dad."

"Why? Have a hot date waiting for you to get off the phone?" Lindsay let out a laugh, the very sound echoing around the room.

"I am not going to discuss my sex-life with my father." There was a long pause on Tony's end of the phone; Lindsay swore she heard him drop something.

"You have a sex-life" Lindsay rolled her eyes and looked up at Alex, a smirk clearly evident on his face.

"Good bye Dad." After hanging up the phone, she slid it back into her pocket. Alex walked toward her, wrapping his arms around her waist and laughing quietly at her.

"Your daddy still thinks you're a virgin, huh?" Lindsay looked at him and glared, though her glare was sort of canceled out by the smile on her face.

"Shut up."

_"Why the hell would you want to go to school in Nebraska?" Tony questioned his daughter, who was sitting at the small table outside the extensive Malibu home, nursing a cup of coffee in her freshly manicured hands. She lifted the cup to her lips and took a small sip of the liquid before answering her father's rather loud question._

_ "Because, it's one of the best, scratch that, it's THE best college in the Midwest."_

_ "Stanford, one of THE best colleges in the whole COUNTRY has been after you for the past three years!" Lindsay rolled her eyes at how desperate her father was sounding right now, it almost sounded like Stanford was paying him for her attendance to the school._

_ "Tony, let her be," Pepper said from her spot opposite the young girl. She too had a cup of coffee in her hands though, while Lindsay's was splattered with cream and sugar, Pepper's was black._

_ "I'm not going to spend the next four years of my life with a bunch of Harvard rejects," Lindsay muttered, taking another sip of the warm liquid._

_ "You're a Harvard reject!" Tony shouted, slamming his hand down on the table, his actions causing the cups and plates to rattle. Lindsay, whose face was calm and almost void of emotion, turned and looked at her father in a way that almost seemed like he wasn't yelling at her._

_ "I can't be a reject if I didn't apply." The tone of the conversation seemed to take a nose-dive as Lindsay's words set in. Pepper placed her cup down on the table and stared at the young girl, her face now serious._

_ "Lindsay, you told us you sent in the application," she said. Lindsay took another sip of her coffee before shrugging her shoulders._

_ "That was just to get this one off my back about it," she explained, gesturing toward Tony, who was being eerily silent this whole time. Lindsay shifted her gaze over to him and had to hold back the laughter she really wanted to let out. Tony's face was so red it looked like he had stayed out in the California sun for hours and hours again, and his eyes looked like there was a fire lit behind them. _

_ "So, let me get this straight," Tony said, his voice coming out very rigid, almost as if he was trying to force himself from snapping at his daughter. "You didn't send in the application at all." Lindsay, very calmly and deliberately, lifted the mug to her lips and swallowed the last of her coffee, before setting the mug on the table and standing from her chair. She smirked slightly as she made her way toward the double doors leading to the house._

_ "I didn't even fill out the forms." With that, she quickly walked up the path and into the house, listening as Tony began yelling as Pepper tried her hardest to calm her boss down before he did something stupid. Without stopping to remove her shoes, she took the stairs two at a time until she reached the door leading to her bedroom, which she yanked open and slammed behind her._

_ The mid-morning sunlight streamed through the large window on the other side of the room, coating Lindsay and everything else in the room in a warm glow. The young girl sighed as she leaned against the door, closing her eyes and shaking her head as Tony's angry rant trickled through her half-opened window. _

_ "He'll get over it," she muttered after several seconds. Opening her eyes, she stopped leaning against the door and walked over to her desk, opening her laptop and checking her cell phone for any new messages or emails she may have missed._

_ "Ma'am," JARVIS's chipper voice sounded over her head, making her groan slightly as her attention was turned from the message she had just started reading. _

_ "Yes JARVIS?" she asked sarcastically, she knew the AI was going to continue talking weather she answered him or not. _

_ "Miss Potts wanted me to remind you that a car will be here in two hours to take you and your father to the airport for the __Apogee Awards." Lindsay let out a loud groan as she was reminded she had that today. _

_ "Oh great." She shut her laptop, harder than was probably recommended, and leaned back in her seat. After several seconds of silence, Lindsay pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed yet again. "JARVIS, is Dad still yelling?" The AI didn't speak for several seconds, until finally his British voice filled the room yet again._

_ "You're father is in his workshop, currently doing diagnostics on one of his sports cars," JARVIS explained quickly. Lindsay bit her lip and tried to think of a way to fix this, Tony ever ran diagnostics on his cars if he was mad or was trying to avoid something._

_ "I may have screwed up here JARVIS," she muttered as she placed her head in her hands. The AI didn't say anything, it was almost as if he hadn't heard her. After almost ten minutes of sitting with her head in her hands, Lindsay leaned up and rubbed her eyes. Slowly, almost in a way that seemed like she was afraid, she reached forward and opened the drawer in the desk. Random papers and pens scattered the area, hiding the area in question Lindsay was currently searching for. Running her fingers along the bottom, she smiled slightly as she removed the false bottom of the drawer and pulled out a small frame. It was covered in dust from being hidden from the light of day for so long, but Lindsay could still make out the smiling faces of both herself and Clint Barton, who was holding her in a fireman hold after a particularly difficult training session. The image made tears prick the corners of her eyes, causing her to quickly place it back in the her desk and return the false bottom, effectively removing it from view as if it didn't exist at all. Wiping away the tears, Lindsay put on a fake smile and stood from her chair, beginning her preparations for the awards, prepared to play the part of Lindsay Stark, golden child of billionaire philanthropist Tony Stark._

_ Her father would never understand her reasoning behind not staying in California for college, or any coast school in general, not that she would ever tell him the real reason. There was a reason she picked Nebraska, and it had nothing to do with the school she had chosen, though granted it was the best school in the mid-west. Oh no, her motives were much more selfish; she had chosen Nebraska because SHIELD didn't have a headquarters anywhere near that state. And that fact, in her mind, was greater than anything else a college could offer her._

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><p><strong>Hope you guys liked this chapter!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

Lindsay awoke to the sound of Alex snoring quite loudly next to her in the bed. At some point, the two of them had moved from the gym to the small apartment Alex had for himself above the workout room, and then proceeded to move to Alex's bedroom. She turned over and untangled herself from Alex's strong arms before glancing at the bright light coming from the bedside table.

The clock on the table next to Lindsay read 3:43, causing her to groan.

"Why is this sleep schedule kicking in now?" She leaned up and placed her feet on the cold floor before lifting herself up off the bed. Alex shifted slightly from the lack of contact, but continued to sleep soundly, which made Lindsay smile. Walking around the apartment for several minutes, she managed to find a blanket to wrap around herself before moving onto the balcony.

The warm Nebraska air greeted her as soon as she stepped outside. Lindsay breathed in the humid air, looking up at the stars as she silently closed the door behind her. They twinkled above her head, sending a small smile to her lips as she crossed the wooden floor of the balcony and proceeded to lean on the railing.

The full moon draped Lindsay completely; her skin gleamed in the pale light it offered. The black sheet contrasted drastically against her skin, the sliver chain that hung around her neck stood out as well. Lindsay fingered the chain slowly and stared at it; it was a very simple chain, nothing complex or creative about it, and that's why Lindsay loved it so much. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Clint, where are you?" The wind picked up a bit at that moment, it whipped around her, sending her long hair flying back toward the closed door behind her. She turned to look at the door, noticing she could see Alex's sleeping form in the bedroom through the glass of the windows. He looked so calm, so peaceful. Lindsay smiled looking at him, wondering if she ever looked that peaceful. She probably did, she just didn't feel all that calm right now. Images of Clint in danger kept flashing through her head, and the fact that she didn't know exactly what was happening to him was just stressing her out even more.

After spending a few more moments on the balcony, Lindsay sighed and shook her head. "I can't believe I'm doing this." She walked back into the apartment and fished her phone out of her discarded jacket. Sighing once more, wondering if it was too late to change her mind, she pressed the speed dial button for the number she wanted, a number that she should have erased from her phone a long time ago.

The person on the other end picked up on the first ring and part of Lindsay wanted to hang up upon hearing the voice.

"It's me," she answered quietly, not wanting to wake Alex who was still asleep in the next room. She sighed, rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, and turned her attention back toward the phone pressed against her ear. "Say I wanted to help you out… What would that entail exactly?" Coulson laughed on the other end of the phone, making Lindsay clench her teeth.

"A jet will pick you up at 8:00 tomorrow."

"Pick me up where?" Lindsay asked almost automatically, then winced at how normal it felt for her to ask that of Coulson.

"There's a file in your dorm with the address." Lindsay thought about asking how he got into her building, but she knew better than to ask the agent something as trivial as how he got into a locked room.

"Wait, I never said I would do it!" Lindsay said upon hearing Coulson's words.

"If you weren't going to do it, you wouldn't have called." Before Lindsay had the chance to argue, the line went dead.

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><p><strong>Sorry this chapter was so short. Hope you guys are enjoying this story so far, reviews would be <strong>**appreciated!  
><strong>


	4. Chapter 4

Steve Rogers missed flying. It was the only thing he could relate to in this new world he found himself living in. So when he arrived at the address Fury left in his debriefing file and saw a black jet waiting for him, he was anything if not pleased.

"Captain Rodgers," a voice said, knocking him out of his thoughts. He looked away from the window of the jet, which had taken off about two hours earlier, and turned his attention to the source that spoke his name. The man who had accompanied him onto the plane, he was pretty sure his name was Phil, sat across from him. It was at that moment that Steve noticed the plane was no longer moving.

"Are we there?" Steve asked, leaning to look out one of the windows behind him. A field of corn covered the land that wasn't covered in the concrete of the tar-mat. The outline of buildings was visible over the corn, but those seemed several miles away from where they were currently. Steve raised one of his blond eyebrows after taking in the landscape. "This isn't exactly what I was expecting."

"It's just a pit stop," Coulson, who was now standing, said. He walked over to the small door on the plane and opened it slowly. "We just need to pick something up." Steve watched as Phil walked out of the plane and into the sunlight. He was gone for several minutes, during which time Steve heard him talking to someone whose voice he couldn't make out. Steve stood and was about to go see what was going on when Coulson walked back onto the plane, a black bag hung over his shoulder. He smiled at the younger looking man as he made his way further into the plane.

"Did we just stop to pick up a bag, Sir?"

"Not exactly." Suddenly, after seeing sudden movement behind the other man, Steve turned his head.

A young woman, dressed in a pair of black leggings and a bright green shirt, made her way up the steps behind Coulson. She had long brown hair that was tied up into a ponytail with bangs framing her pale face. Bright brown eyes stared back at Steve over Coulson's shoulder, a smile gracing her lips. Something about this woman made Steve feel almost normal again, less like the man out of time and more like the Steve Rodgers he was before the war, but he couldn't pin-point exactly what it was about her.

"Captain Steve Rogers, meet Agent Lindsay Stark." Steve's eyebrows shot up. Agent? This girl couldn't have been more than seventeen years old.

"Captain," Lindsay said, nodding toward the older man as she walked behind Coulson, making her way further down the plane's aisle. Steve nodded back to her.

"Stark? As in Howard Stark?" Lindsay smirked as she sat down a few seats away from Steve.

"Ah, so you met dear-old Grandpa, huh?" Steve nodded slowly as he sat down in his seat.

"Agent Stark, aren't you forgetting something?" Coulson asked, eyeing the teen from his spot across from her. Lindsay stared at him for several tense seconds before she sighed and reached for the waistband of her pants. A small black hand held gun came into Steve's view, causing him to jump out of his chair. Lindsay stared at him as she handed the gun to Coulson.

"It's empty," she explained. Steve stared at her for a few seconds before slowly sitting back down. Coulson, now holding two separate parts of the gun she had just handed him, looked up at the young woman with a semi-serious expression on his face.

"We're going to pretend I didn't see this." Lindsay rolled her eyes at her handler and threw her hands into the air.

"Well, it's not like S.H.I.E.L.D was going to give me one." Upon seeing Steve's confused look, Lindsay sighed. "It's unregistered."

"It's what?" Lindsay stared at him for several seconds before she turned back to Coulson.

"This is the guy you wouldn't shut up about?" Coulson didn't say anything; he just sat back and closed his eyes as the plane returned to the air.

After twenty minutes in the air, Phil and Steve stood and walked around the plane, Lindsay had fallen asleep several minutes before. Coulson had been spending the past few minutes explaining things to Steve, who was still confused about the current situation.

"So this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum that was used on me?" Steve asked slowly. Coulson nodded.

"A lot of people were. You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula."

"Didn't really go his way, did it?" Steve asked, causing Coulson to chuckle.

"Not so much. When he's not that thing though, guy's like a Stephen Hawking." Steve turned his head to stare at the older man, one of his blond eyebrows raised in confusion. "He's like a smart person." Steve nodded and looked back out one of the windows of the plane. "I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you, officially. I sort of met you, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping." Coulson, upon realizing how creepy that sounded, stopped talking and shook his head. "I mean, I was... I was present while you were unconscious from the ice." Coulson stood silent for a few seconds before trying once again to speak to his hero. "You know, it's really, it's just a... just a huge honor to have you on board."

"Well, I hope I'm the man for the job."

"Oh you are!" Coulson said enthusiastically, then realized he once again sounded crazy. "Uh... we've made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input," Coulson explain, sounded incredibly proud. Steve turned to look at Coulson, one eyebrow raised.

"The uniform? Aren't the stars and stripes a little... old-fashioned?" Coulson smiled at the man, a slight twinkle in his eyes.

"With everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old-fashioned." Steve nodded before turning to look at Lindsay. The young girl looked so peaceful as she rested, the wary look she had when she entered the plane was gone.

"Why is Miss Stark here, Sir?" Coulson turned around to look at his young charge, a small smile on his lips as she shifted slightly in her sleep.

"Same reason you're here Captain." He looked at Steve, who looked back slightly confused. "She's here to help."

"But she's so young, Sir," Steve said quickly, his eyes glued to Lindsay's sleeping form.

"Not really," Coulson muttered, then shook his head. "Despite her age, Miss Stark is one of the best agents this organizations has to offer the world." Steve opened his mouth to ask another question, when the pilot turned around and said something to Coulson. "You might want to take your seat, we're almost there." Steve didn't say anything; he just looked between Coulson and Lindsay, who were slowly beginning to wake up, before he made his way back to the seat he previously resided in.


	5. Chapter 5

_2008_

_ "We have an assignment for you." With fingers still held firm on his bow, Barton turned and stared at the man before him, moving his eyes from his face to the black tablet in his hands._

_ "You need me to make someone disappear?" he asked, his gaze moving back to the target he had set up down the range. He had been shooting for close to two hours with a perfect record for accuracy._

_ "Need you to bring someone in."_

_ "Who?" Barton questioned, taking a deep breath in preparation to let his arrow fly, Coulson watched the young man pull back the string of his bow and aim at the center of the target placed one hundred yards away. Just as Barton was about the release his grip on the string, Coulson spoke._

_ "Lindsay Stark." Barton flinched upon hearing the name of his target, causing his arrow to fly wide and lodge itself in the wall instead of its intended target. He whipped around to glare at his handler, who was smirking back at him._

_ "You're sending me after a spoiled rich girl?" Barton snapped as images of Tony Stark's only child flashed through his mind. Everyone in the world knew about Tony Stark, the millionaire CEO of the largest weapon's manufacturer in the world, who was just as famous for his partying as he was for his weapons. And, with how famous Tony was, his daughter was even more so._

_ Lindsay Maria Stark was one of the most famous women in world culture to date, for both good reasons and bad. For the past few years, she had been the face for the Maria Stark Foundation, an organization started by her father in his mother's memory that helped underprivileged children around the world. Clint could vaguely remember seeing a news story about her opening a school for girls in Iran, despite critics in the US and threats from citizens of Iran._

_ But for all the good things she was known for, there were more infamous reasons her name was a household one as well. She graduated high school at the age of sixteen, but instead of going straight off to an Ivy League university as her father had, the girl decided she wanted to take some time off and travel. The details are sketchy at best about what happened, but after six months out of school, Lindsay turned from a quiet, kind child to one of the wildest party animals in American sub-culture. Her parties were that of legend, or so the American public seemed to think. As far as Barton was concerned, Lindsay Stark was a spoiled daddy's girl who needed to be told no a few times._

_ "Sir," Clint remarked, moving his bow down to his side before turning back to look at Coulson. "With all do respect, I think Ward could take this one." He began walking past Coulson when the older man turned and walked behind him, tablet still in his hands._

_ "That's what we thought, which is why we sent him last week." Barton's step faltered, he turned around and glanced at Coulson, who was smirking slightly._

_ "Grant couldn't capture a seventeen year old?" he barked out, trying to fight the urge to laugh. _

_ "I think you'll find that Miss Stark is more than just a normal seventeen year old." Coulson handed the tablet to Barton, a video already playing on the screen. _

_ The video was clearly taken from a corner surveillance camera, the quality of the images were grainy and dark. The location seemed to be an alleyway, with its countless trashcans and bags of garbage lining a plain brick wall, though there was no way to tell where this alleyway was. Barton could clearly make out the outline of Ward on the screen; after all he was the only other person in the video apart from the small, petite brunette wearing a silver dress and heels. The girl in question matched the other images he'd seen of Lindsay Stark, the same brown eyes and thick brown curls; he still couldn't figure out why SHIELD wanted her so badly though. _

_ Ward walked up to Lindsay and began speaking to her, though the video didn't have audio so Clint couldn't tell what he was saying. Whatever he did say, though, seemed to make Lindsay laugh. She smiled at Ward before trying to walk past him, when he grabbed her upper arm in a tight grip. It would appear to any normal person that Ward, who was much bigger than Lindsay, had won and was going to apprehend the girl, but Clint had knowledge that that was not the case, and was waiting for something to happen. And something happened all right. Before Barton had time to blink, Lindsay's foot had connected with Ward's shin, sending him stumbling back a few steps. Any normal teenage girl would have turned and ran after an altercation like this, but Lindsay simply stood there as Ward recovered, and when he tried to grab her again, she kicked him in the stomach, causing him to double over in pain._

_ Clint watched the video-feed in amazement, he couldn't believe a seventeen-year-old girl was completely destroying a fully trained SHIELD agent. The grainy image showed Lindsay's fist connect with Ward's nose, which began gushing blood as soon as contact was made._

_ "When was this filmed?" Clint asked as video-Lindsay flipped away from Ward's way-ward fist, though it did manage to connect with her mouth momentarily._

_ "Two days ago near Miami." Clint glanced up at Phil, who just shrugged and smirked. "Something about it being Spring Break." Clint shook his head and resumed watching the on-screen fight, which now involved Lindsay flipping Ward onto his back and kicking him in the head, knocking him out. Without so much as a second glance at her unconscious opponent, Lindsay stood up straight, wiped the blood away from her split lip, and walked out of the frame._

_ "Where is she now?" Barton asked, handing the device back to Coulson._

_ "Back in Malibu," Phil explained quickly, putting the tablet under his arm. "Mr. Stark is out of the country for the rest of the week, so she's there alone." Clint nodded and began walking toward his room, bow in hand. "Barton." The man in question turned around and eyed his handler, who was staring back at him rather intently. "Bring her back in one piece." Barton nodded and left the room, mentally planning how he was going to end up like Ward and give Lindsay a very one-sided fight._


	6. Chapter 6

By the time Lindsay had woken up from her nap, they were landing at their 'location' (Coulson wouldn't tell her exactly where they were going, he just said she would feel 'right at home', which didn't exactly do anything to calm her growing nerves.) As soon as the plane hit the ground, Lindsay was out of her seat and trying to find a way off the plane.

"Ma'am?" Lindsay jump at the feeling of a hand on her shoulder, she turned around to see Steve staring at her. "Everything ok?" It took her several seconds to slow her racing heart before she could answer him.

"Yes," she said, swallowing hard in hopes of getting the lump in her throat to go away. "I'm fine Captain."

"Not a fan of flying?" Steve asked slowly. Lindsay attempted to smile at the blond man ahead of her, but her eyes were glued to the hanger door, willing it to open.

"Not partially."

"Agent Stark prefers to spend her time firmly on the ground," Coulson said, making his way behind the pair. Lindsay turned to him and was about to say something when the sound of doors opening graced her ears.

"Thank you God," she whispered as the doors opened all the way.

Bright mid-morning sunlight streamed through the open doors as Lindsay quickly made her way out of the jet. Loud noises assaulted her ears, but this wasn't something she was unused to.

"Agent Stark?" Lindsay looked up at the sound of her name, which she barely heard, then immediately regretted her choice to do so. Less than ten feet away, staring at her as if she was a ghost, was none other than Natasha Romanov, the very woman she did NOT want to see. Lindsay felt her shoulders tense up just from looking at the woman, if they weren't on an aircraft carrier in the middle of a large body of water, she probably would have jumped off just to get away from her by now.

"Agent Romanov," Lindsay muttered, meeting the woman's gaze.

"Nice to see you again." Lindsay was thankful for the loud noises, because they blocked the snort she did at Natasha's last comment. Neither of them was happy to see the other; Lindsay didn't feel the need to lie and say she was, so she simply nodded.

"Agent Romanov," Coulson greeted, walking up behind the young girl. After introducing Steve to the red-haired agent, he explained he was needed on the bridge.  
>"I'll go with you!" Lindsay exclaimed, eager for a way to get clear of the other female agent. Coulson just smirked at her before the two made their way to their desired location. They crossed the concrete medium, passing several planes along their way. Once they were out of the crisp air and into a long hallway, Lindsay took a deep breath and leaned against one of the nearby walls.<p>

"Everything ok?" Coulson asked. Lindsay looked up at him and glared at his subtle smirk.

"You didn't tell me _she_ would be here," she growled, her voice taking on an icy tone that made Coulson frown.

"Why wouldn't she be?" he asked, his voice calm and collected. "She's Agent Barton's…"

"Partner, I know," Lindsay bit out, standing up straighter. She glared at the older man before making her way down the hallway, passing Coulson in her wake.

"Where do you think you're going?" Lindsay turned around and sneered at the man before her, her eyes colder than they were before Natasha had been mentioned. Phil knew the older woman was a sore subject as far as Lindsay was concerned, given everything that had happened between the pair and Barton, but for this mission to be successful, he needed to get the teenager to stop acting like Lindsay Stark and start acting like the SHIELD agent she once was.

"To the bridge. I may have been gone for almost three years but I can still find my way around a hellicarrier." Coulson rolled his eyes at her as she continued walking down the hall, constantly passing people with every step she took.

"No, of course you can," he muttered, making his way behind the teenager to make sure she didn't end up getting herself lost. Then again, that wouldn't be the first time.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! I know these last two chapters have been a bit on the short side, but I promise they get longer from here on out, I just started my first year of college and am still working on the whole "Writing vs homework" schedule, but I think I have a system in place so they should get longer! **

**Also, thanks to everyone whose favorited, followed, and reviewed this story. It makes me happy to know people actually read and enjoy this story!**

**Hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

><p><em> The sound of bass heavy music could be heard miles before Clint even reached The Star, a high-profile club outside of Malibu. SHIELD's intel informed him that Lindsay had been seen earlier inside the building, which was the only reason he was there now.<em>

_ Once his car was parked a few miles away, Barton walked up a rather large hill that lead to the modern looking building, dodging past a large line of people waiting in turn to her into the club, many of the females in lone dressed in outfits that left very little to the imagination._

_ "Name?" Clint paused in front of a large, muscular man dressed in all black. This man was built like a linebacker, with muscles the size of bowling balls and a scowl that seemed to be permanently etched on his face._

_ "James Cross," he stated, giving the name he was using for this assignment. The bouncer looked over the list in his hand for several seconds before shifting his gaze back to Clint, aka James._

_ "Sorry, buddy," the man said, his voice gruff, but loud enough for Clint to hear over the music that was trickling out of the building. "You're not on the list."_

_ "Are you sure?" Clint asked, slipping one hand into the pocket of his black pants. "Maybe you should check again." The bouncer looked at Clint and opened his mouth to tell him to get lost, when he noticed the man before him was slipping something across the clipboard. Grabbing it quickly from his grasp, the bouncer eyed the object in his hand for a few seconds before letting out a loud, low laugh._

_ "Are you seriously trying to bribe your way into the most popular club in California with only one hundred dollars?" the bouncer questioned, his laughter continued to sound. Clint sighed silently and opened his mouth to argue with the man when some commotion from the crowd behind him distracted the pair._

_ "Lindsay!" The crowd began cheering and shouting the teenager's name, causing Clint to turn around. Sure enough, no less than fifty feet away from him, was his target. Dressed in a short red dress and heels, her short hair curled gently around her shoulders, accenting her red lipstick she had on (Clint bet it was to hide the fact that they were split). She smiled and waved at every person out there, her brown eyes glowing with warmth that radiated in the dim light._

_ "Miss Stark!" Both Clint and Lindsay turned toward the sound. A tall man dressed in a suit stood about twenty feel away next to a large black Sedan. Clint recognized the man as Happy Hogan, chauffer and bodyguard to the Stark family. Lindsay smiled at the man and, after sating goodbye to the few people she was with, walked over to the car. The pair exchanged some words that were too quiet for Clint to hear, then Lindsay quickly got in the back seat of the Sedan. After another minute, the car started pulling away, driving back down the hill. Clint watched it go, mentally taking in the license plate as he walked back down the hill to his car, forgetting all about the bouncer who had pocketed his forgotten bribe. _


	8. Chapter 8

"See, I told you I knew where I was going!" Lindsay smirked triumphantly as the large metal door opened, revealing the room she had been looking for the past ten minutes. Coulson followed behind her as they made their way into the room, smirking at her behind her back.

"Yes, it just took you eight minutes longer than it should have," he muttered. Lindsay slowed down and looked at him over her shoulder, glaring at him slightly.

"You could have said something." Coulson smiled and shook his head calmly.

"Now why would I do that when you _knew_ where you were going?" Lindsay opened her mouth to make a snarky comment when the doors opened behind them.

"Agent Stark." Lindsay turned away from Coulson toward the voice, training her eyes on a familiar form.

"Maria Hill, as I live and breath." The older woman, who looked just the same as when Lindsay left, was dressed in her signature black jumpsuit with her hair pilled up on top of her head in a tight bun.

"You're looking well," Maria smiled as she walked further into the room with a tablet in hand. Lindsay smiled back at her, beginning to feel much more comfortable in the location she was in.

"College has been good to me." She looked between Coulson and Hill before smirking slightly. "I've learned I have a tolerance for large quantities of alcohol."

"I'm pretty sure we knew that already," Maria said, smirking at the younger woman. Lindsay opened her mouth to argue with her, but then closed it slowly before shrugging.

"Touché." The three of them chuckled; Lindsay was beginning to feel much calmer with every minute she spent here. This part of her old life was easy, if it was all this then she probably would not have left at all…

"Agent Stark!" Unfortunately, it was not all like that. Lindsay immediately tensed up hearing her name spoken by a very familiar voice. She slowly turned around until her eyes landed on the form of Nick Fury. Even after two years of not seeing him, in Lindsay's eyes, Fury still made the nineteen year old feel as though she was three feet tall. "Good to see you again." Lindsay cleared her throat and smirked slightly, trying to hide exactly how uncomfortable she felt.

"Nick," she said calmly, walking around the room the four of them resided in. "I love what you've done with the place." Fury didn't respond right away, just watched her out of the corner of his eye as she continued to walk around the room. "It's very…" She paused her motions and turned her gaze back to the older man. "Homey." Fury stared at her for a few seconds before chuckling.

"Oh Lindsay," Fury said calmly, though the fact that he used her first name made the younger woman's skin crawl. "It's good to see college life hasn't dampened your sense of humor." Lindsay felt like Fury was egging her on, as if he was trying to get a response out of her. She wanted to give him a response, oh boy did she want to, and she opened her mouth with a comeback on the tip of her tongue, when Coulson placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from speaking.

"Doctor Banner and Captain Rodgers are on the deck with Agent Romanov," he explained, his hand still on Lindsay's shoulder, meaning he felt her tense up at the mention of the redhead. "She's bringing them in now." Fury nodded before turning back to state something to Agent Hill.

"Take her up." Lindsay's lungs felt like they were going to explode in her chest as Fury's words registered in her head; she whipped around and stared at the older man with wide eyes and a set jaw.

"Take what up?" she bit out. Fury smirked at her as the people around them busied themselves with various tasks.

"You're not still afraid of heights, are you?" Lindsay's heart seemed to stop beating as terror took a hold of her. She opened her mouth to scream at the older man when she felt a slight jerk. Turning her head, she looked out the large glass windows and immediately tensed up as she noticed clouds covering more and more of her line of sight.

"You bastard," she bit out, quickly turning her gaze away from the window. The assent so far was so smooth that, if she didn't look out the windows, she wouldn't have realized they were no longer on the water. Fury smirked at her slightly before turning his attention toward Steve and another man who had just walked into the room. The man Lindsay didn't recognize was dressed in a pair of brown dress pants with a matching jacket and a purple shirt tucked neatly underneath. His brown hair was curling slightly around his ears, and his brown eyes were gleaming slightly behind a pair of wire-rimmed glasses.

"Doctor Banner," Fury stated, reaching out to shake the man in question's hand. "Thank you for coming." Banner smiled, but even from her position several feet away, Lindsay could tell he was somewhat on edge with the whole situation.

"Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh... how long am I staying?" Banner asked, eyeing Fury cautiously.

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear," Fury explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Lindsay rolled her eyes at the comment, which Fury didn't see but Banner did, which in turn made him smirk.

"Where are you with that?" Bruce asked, walking away from Fury and toward Lindsay, who was standing right next to one of the large computers. Fury looked at Coulson, who was still standing behind Lindsay as if he was worried she would turn and dart out the room.

"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us," Phil explained, sounding very scientific. Lindsay listened to him and felt like it was going in one ear and out the other. She did realize one thing very important in his explanation.

"That's still not gonna find them in time," she muttered, just loud enough for Banner and Coulson to hear. Both casted a look at her, Coulson's more full of pity than Banner's was.

"You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?" Banner asked, turning his attention back over to Fury.

"How many are there?" Fury asked, completely serious. Once again, Lindsay rolled her eyes.

"Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places." He glanced around the room for a few moments before speaking again. "Do you have somewhere for me to work?"

"I can take him," Lindsay said, shifting slightly so she could walk over toward Banner when Fury held up his hand.

"Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please." Lindsay stumbled, her eyes landing on the red haired agent who was standing by the door; Lindsay hadn't even noticed the other woman was in there. Banner looked between Lindsay and Natasha before slowly making his way toward the older woman.

"You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys." The two of them made their way out of the room; as soon as the door closed, Lindsay turned on Fury.

"Why exactly couldn't I take him?" she asked, her voice full of annoyance.

"I thought you might want to settle in, seeing as you'll be here awhile." In that moment, something inside Lindsay snapped.

"Listen here Blinky," she bit out, glaring at the older man before her. "I'm not here to be you're slave again. I'm here for Barton." She turned to leave and made it almost to the door before she turned around the glare at Fury again. "Nothing has changed with you, has it?" He didn't answer, not that Lindsay expected him to. She quickly turned and made her way out of the room, barely noticing that Coulson was following closely behind her.


	9. Chapter 9

_ "Did you really have to go out tonight?" Happy asked, following behind Lindsay as she entered the large Malibu estate. The clicking of her stilettos on the marble floor echoed in the foyer with every step._

_ "We've been over this before Happy," Lindsay stated as she pulled several pins out of her hair, sending curls cascading lower on her neck. "You didn't have to come get me." The pair walked through the foyer, the living room, until finally stopping in the kitchen. Lindsay, still adorned in her red dress and heels, walked over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of diet soda._

_ "If I didn't come," Happy began, crossing his arms over his chest and watching the teenager reach into a cabinet to get a glass. "How exactly would you have gotten home?"_

_ "Well," she grunted, pulling the crystal glass off the shelf. "It's not like I had any trouble getting there without you." Happy just glared at her, mostly because she was right. "Look." Lindsay sat herself on the counter and stared at Happy, a small smile on her face. "Would it make you feel better if I promise to stay in the house for the rest of the night?"_

_ "Can I believe that?" Happy asked, raising one of his eyebrows at the girl in question. Lindsay rolled her eyes as she poured herself a glass of soda._

_ "JARVIS will make sure I don't." She looked up at the ceiling, almost as if the AI were just above her. "Right buddy?"_

_ "I will be Miss Stark's personal babysitter, Mr. Hogan," JARVIS explained, his British accent ringing through the room. Lindsay smiled at Happy, a look of victory plastered across her face._

_ "There you go!" Happy opened his mouth to argue with her when JARVIS spoke again._

_ "Ma'am, Mr. Stane is on the line for you." Lindsay sighed and took a sip of the dark, tangy liquid._

_ "What does he want?" she muttered, shaking her head. She looked up at Happy, who was still staring at her, internal battle evident behind his eyes. "Go home Happy," Lindsay commanded, her voice light and airy. "I'll be fine." Happy stared at her for a few seconds, almost as if he were afraid to leave her alone. "Go!" Finally, Happy let out a small smile and turned around, leaving the teenager sitting on the counter by herself. "Finally," Lindsay let out breathlessly. She turned around and opened the largest cabinet, the dozen or so bottles twinkling in the florescent light. "Come to Momma." Reaching up, she wrapped her red-clade fingernails around the neck of the largest bottle, eyeing the Rum with a grin._

_ "Ma'am," JARVIS spoke again as Lindsay, bottle and glass in hand, jumped off the counter and landed softly on the marble floor, teetering only slightly on her thin heels. "Mr. Stane?" While letting out a groan, Lindsay set the items on the counter and quickly hit the flashing green button on her phone._

_ "Why are you calling me?" Lindsay asked casually as she lifted the already open bottle of Rum in one hand and held it over the glass._

_ "Nice talking to you too." Obadiah Stane's voice echoed through the room, the sound making Lindsay pause her pouring momentarily. Obadiah had been a presence in her life for as long as she could remember, always being the serious mentor-figure Tony needed. Lindsay rolled her eyes and continued pouring the liquor._

_ "Oh, I'm so sorry, where are my manners?" she asked sarcastically, her voice sickly sweet. "How are you Obie?" The older man laughed, the thick yet slightly cold sound filling the air around her._

_ "Have you heard from Tony?" Lindsay set the Rum bottle down and took a sip of her drink, savoring the slight burn it caused in the back of her throat._

_ "Not since he left a few days ago." Tony and his new assistant Pepper Pots had traveled to China three days previous so Tony could schmooze some big tech-company's CEO into selling out and weren't due home for another four days. "Why?"_

_ "He hasn't gotten back to me all day, or the past several days," Obie explained as Lindsay took another sip._

_ "And you thought calling his daughter up at…" She paused, turning around to glance at the flashing clock behind her. "2:00a.m. on a Thursday morning was the best way to remedy this situation?" Lindsay picked up her cell and turned off the speakerphone, lifting the small object to her ear. With her phone in one hand and half-full drink in another, she began making her way out of the kitchen and up the nearby staircase leading to her room. "What if I was asleep?" Obadiah laughed again just as Lindsay reached the top of her staircase._

_ "Check the email I sent you," he stated, his voice gruff. "I knew you weren't asleep." Lindsay frowned as she pulled her phone away from her ear and opened her email tab; Obadiah's was flashing bright red almost violently. As soon as she pressed on the red font, her email screen was transformed into an article from a tabloid. The title "Weapon's Princess Parties Again" stood above a rather large picture of her from outside the club, her lips parted gracefully as she smiled at people outside the building. Lindsay sighed as she scrolled through the article without really reading it, merely picking out words here-and-there that caught her eyes._

_ "Ok, so I wasn't sleeping," Lindsay explained, moving the phone back to her ear. "Doesn't mean I've heard from him." Obadiah started talking, explaining something long and complicated, but Lindsay didn't want to listen so she blocked him out. She walked forward several feet and pushed on the door before her, engulfing her room in light._

_ The bedroom she called her own is not one most people would imagine when they heard the name 'Lindsay Stark'. Most would assume she lived in a chaotic, color-filled teenage wonderland, when in actuality it was almost the total opposite._

_ Her walls were painted a light cream color, with a white and gold border working its way around the center of the wall. Her king size bed was covered in a plush gold comforter and several cream and white pillows. Two white night stands were placed on either side of the bed, each covered in a small lamp and several photos of Lindsay with various people._

_ Light filtered through the balcony door, which was placed directly across from the teenager's bed._

_ "Tell you what Obie," Lindsay cut the older man off, sliding her heels off one at a time. "Next time Tony calls, I'll tell him you want him to call you, or, more likely, have Pepper call you." She hung up her phone after that, not giving him time to respond. "Idiot." Lindsay walked over to her bed and sat down on the thick mattress. The silence of the room over took her, the only sound she could hear was the metal on metal sound of her removing her large earrings and setting them on one of the bedside tables. Obadiah's words kept replaying in the back of her head, over and over until she finally couldn't take it anymore and picked up her cellphone. Her fingers flew over the keys, pressing the numbers she had memorized for years and at this point came as second nature to plug into the small device. After several seconds, the ringing of her phone turned into an all-to familiar voice._

_ "Do you have any idea what time it is?" the tired voice of James Rhodes asked, instantly making Lindsay smile. Rhodey had been a constant in her life since she was really young, he was almost like a second father to her at this point, though he would always get madder at for the stupid stunts she pulled than Tony did. _

_ "I'm well aware of the time, Colonel," Lindsay said casually as she leaned against one of the pillows. "I'm calling because I just got a very interesting call from Mr. Stane about Tony." She went on to replay the conversation she had just had with her father's business partner. After the explanation was over, Rhodey groaned, which made Lindsay chuckle._

_ "I haven't heard any news coming out of China that would lead for cause of concern," he explained, sounding much more awake than he had a few moments prior._

_ "Neither have I, which is why I called. You tend to hear more than I do, seeing as I only get to go through civilian channels."_

_ "I'll make some calls, make sure he's alright." Lindsay smiled and stood from the bed, phone still clutched to her ear. _

_ "That's what I like to hear." She walked over to the dresser and stood before the mirror for a moment before speaking again. "Now, get to sleep Colonel, do you have any idea what time it is?" Rhodey laughed as Lindsay hung up and placed her phone on the dresser before her. Taking a single deep breath, she looked at herself in the mirror and finally realized just how quiet her home truly was at that moment. "Why is this so comfortable?" With a small smile plastered to her face the entire time, Lindsay slowly removed both sets of her ears and her the two rings that took their places on both index fingers. She was about to turn around and head into her closet, in hopes of removing her extremely tight dress, when she noticed an outline of something in the corner of her room. No normal person would have noticed the subtle change in her room layout, but since she was slightly OCD, she made note of the change right away. Pursing her lips, she shifted her hands slightly on the dresser until her palms were running along the smooth metal of her letter opener. _

_ As quickly as humanly possible, she threw herself around and released the blade, watching it fly across the room and embed itself in the nearby wall, which in turn made the outline jump slightly and let out a muffled sound._

_ "Next time I won't miss," Lindsay stated, glaring slightly at the figure who was now moving around freely, no longer needing to hide from the young girl. _

_ "Alright, alright." Moving into the light with both hands raised above his head, Lindsay laid eyes on a man with thick brown hair who was completely dressed in black leather with a bow and quiver of arrows slung across his back._

_ "Who the hell are you?" Lindsay asked, her voice hard as she eyed the man before her up and down._

_ "The name's Barton," he said gruffly, lowering his hands back down to his sides. "I was sent to collect you by SHEILD."_


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys! I really ****appreciate every favoriting and following this story! I have a great time writing it and it makes me happy to know what other people enjoy it too.  
>As always, I don't own anything Avengers related, I only own Lindsay. Everyone else is owned by Marvel, though my birthday is coming up...<br>**

**Anywho, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

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><p>The pair walked for several minutes before talking, and Lindsay only opened her mouth because she was too angry to remain silent any more.<p>

"This is bullshit!" Lindsay yelled, walking several feet ahead of Coulson.

"Language." She abruptly stopped, the familiar word bringing her back to a time she wanted nothing more than to forget. Fighting back the urge to snap and hit something, she turned around and glared at Coulson, who was just staring at her calmly.

"Don't," she growled, her voice full of a mixture of anger and pain.

"Don't what?" the older man asked, eyeing the girl cautiously.

"Start acting like you're my handler again." She shook her head quickly, sending a piece of her brown hair flying out of her eyes. Taking one step forward, she set her jaw firmly before biting out her next comments. "I'm here for Barton, and Barton only. I'll help you find him, but I am _not_ coming back." With that, she turned on her heels and made her way down the bare corridor, not giving Coulson a chance to speak before leaving him.

The walk to her guest room didn't take her as long as she expected it to, though the constant looks she was getting from people as she went was starting to piss her off. Once or twice she heard people mutter her name, and once or twice she had to stop herself from losing her composure and just punching them in the face. Once she reached the room in question, she slid in the already opened door and closed it behind her, so silently that, if you had not seen her enter the room, you would have missed it.

Silver walls surrounded her on all four sides, giving Lindsay a sick sense of Déjà vu. A single twin bed was pushed up against one of the far walls, situated next to a metal nightstand with a clock on it. The rest of the room was bare, apart from a single full-length mirror and a small upright dresser with her bag placed in front of it. Lindsay let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding upon laying eyes on the bag and walked over to the object. Bending over and slowly pulling back the small metal zipper, she reached her hand inside and grasped her red notebook. The leather cover felt warm against her palm as she pulled the book out of the black bag; she stood up quickly and walked over to the small bed she was forced to, temporarily, call her own, and slid the book underneath the mattress, hiding it from view.

"One less thing I have to worry about," she muttered as she walked back to the dresser. This process went on for several minutes, with Lindsay unpacking everything she brought with her and hiding a few items so 'Big Brother Fury' wouldn't get his hands on them. Once everything was unpacked, Lindsay stood next to the dresser and sighed, debating weather or not she truly wanted to open it. After several minutes of debating, she closed her eyes, reached out and wrapped her fingers around the handles before yanking the doors open, her eyes still closed.

"It's just a uniform, Stark," she muttered to herself, her voice slightly horse and shaking slightly. "Putting it on isn't going to put you in some binding contract with SHIELD." Taking one last deep breath, Lindsay slowly, almost painfully slow, opened her eyes and gazed at the articles hanging before her.

The black halter-top hung like a trophy from a previous battle, the red accent fabric that laced its way up the side gave the appearance of blood soaking through the cloth of the shirt. Black leather pants were folded and placed next to a pair of black combat boots. Lindsay eyed the outfit cautiously, staring at it as if it was a murderer, and in a way it was. Or at least the person who had worn it was. She sighed and shook her head; the uniform looked exactly the same as it had when she left.

"They wanted to get rid of it." Lindsay jumped at the sound of the new voice. Turning her head, she had to suppress a smirk after seeing Coulson leaning against the doorframe.

"I need to put a bell on that door," she muttered, turning her gaze back to the uniform. "Who's 'they'?"

"The Council." This did make Lindsay smirk; The Council never liked her. Something about her being too reckless and becoming too invested in her missions, and they may have been right, but what did they know? They had never had to do half of what Lindsay had been forced to do in her line of work, she was fairly certain most of them have never even fired a gun.

"How'd Fury convince them not to?" she questioned. Coulson, whose face was calm, walked further into the room toward Lindsay, whose eyes were still trained on the clothes in the dresser.

"He didn't convince them." He stopped just behind Lindsay before he spoke again. "I did."

"You convinced the Council?" Lindsay asked, turning around to stare at her ex-Handler, who was smiling rather proudly. "What the hell did you say?"

"I told them you couldn't destroy something that means so much to so many." Lindsay stared at him for a second before snorting.

"So you lied." Coulson watched her turn back around, noticing how tense she was while looking at the uniform. He sighed before slowly walking toward her.

"The drug cartels in San Jose," Coulson began, watching Lindsay's back for any sign she was responding to his words. "The Senator's children, Taiwan, the Chicago Project." He stopped his listing once he was standing directly next to Lindsay, who had grown much paler over the last few moments. "You have done a lot of good for this country, Lindsay." The young girl blinked a few times before taking a deep breath and turning to look at Coulson.

"Whose definition of 'good' though?" she asked, her voice dull and slightly icy. "Because killing countless of innocent people isn't exactly my idea of 'good'." Coulson sighed as Lindsay once again shifted her gaze back to the uniform; her pale skin not gaining any color no matter how much time had passed. After several seconds had passed, Coulson shifted forward and reached past Lindsay into the dresser, returning seconds later with a small, long case, an intricate design etched into the top of the lid. Lindsay's eyes widened upon noticing the object, her hands began shaking as she reached to take the box from Coulson.

"I managed to save these too." He watched her slowly move her hand up to the lid and removed the cover of the box, revealing a set of blades. Each blade was about twelve inches long with decretive red and black handles; the very sight of them bombarded Lindsay with dozen of memories.

"Hello beautiful," she whispered, lifting one of the blades from the box. A small smile graced her lips as the overhead lights gleamed against the blade, which was so clean she could see her reflection in it. "God, I've missed you." Suddenly, without a second thought, Lindsay spun on the balls of her heels and released the blade, watching it sail across the room and embed itself in the wall.

"Good throw," Coulson stated, his eyes glued on the blade. Lindsay's smile grew yet again.

"I still got it." Coulson smiled at her and opened his mouth to comment when a noise came from his pocket. He didn't need to look at it to know what the noise meant; only one person would be looking for him now.

"Fury needs me on the bridge." He turned to leave, but patted Lindsay on the shoulder before he began walking out of the room. "It's good to have you back, Lindsay." He moved ahead several feet before stopping in the doorway and yelling over his shoulder. "Or should I say, good to have you back, Shadow." Lindsay turned and glared at his back, her next phrase coming out so quietly that she wasn't exactly sure he would hear it.

"You know how much I hate that nickname." She turned and looked at the uniform once more before groaning and ripping the clothes out of the dresser.

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><p><strong>Hope you guys enjoyed! As always, reviews are <strong>**appreciated! See you guys next chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted in awhile, college has gotten kinda hectic. But I managed to get this chapter to a point where I really like it, so here you go!  
>As alway, I don't own the Avengers or any of the characters, I only own Lindsay.<br>**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><em> Lindsay stared at the man before her for several seconds, wrapping her head around what he had just stated, before let an airy laugh that filled up the whole room. <em>

_ "Boy," she let out after her laughter had died down some. "You guys really don't give up, do you?" Clint watched her turn back around to her vanity, reaching over and pouring a bottle of liquid on to a cream colored cloth she had laying over a corner of the mirror. "You'd think after what I told the last guy, you'd get the message."_

_ "We don't give up that easily," he replied gruffly, watching her calmly raise the cloth to her face and whip at the heavy makeup coating her upper eyelids. Lindsay smirked slightly at the man's reflection while wiping away the remnants of the rose colored lipsticks that remained on her lips. _

_ "Obviously not." Lindsay set the cloth down on the desk where the letter opener once was and turned around to stare at Clint, who was standing in the exact same spot. Her face was now completely free of makeup except for the smudges of eyeliner that still coated the underside of each brown eye, which ended up making them stand out more on her face in Clint's opinion. "JARVIS?" the young girl yelled out, looking up to the ceiling. _

_ "Don't bother," Clint replied, his voice neutral. "I shut him off before I got in here."_

_ "You shut him off?" Lindsay asked, not even trying to hide the surprise in her voice. Clint just stared at her, not even justifying her question with an answer. She crossed her arms over her chest before huffing slightly, sending a brown curl flying out of her face. "So, what happens now?"_

_ "I'm supposed to bring you to SHIELD," Clint explained, taking a step or two forward toward the girl, who was still staring at him rather intently. _

_ "And," Lindsay started, raising one of her thin eyebrows ever so slightly. "What if I say no?"_

_ "You wouldn't do that," Clint said calmly, though he had a feeling of where this conversation was heading. Lindsay smirked much more clearly now as Barton walked closer to her._

_ "You obviously don't know me very well, Agent Barton," she replied simply, her eyes gleaming slightly with amusement as she remembered her altercation with Ward only days before. Clint watched slightly as he walked forward, stopping only when he was about five feet away from the young woman. She began walking past him toward her closet, only to have Barton wrap his fingers around her upper arm. Twisting her gaze, she glanced at his hand before moving her eyes up to the older man's face. "You really don't want to do that."_

_ "And why's that?" he asked, smirking slightly as Lindsay attempted to pull her arm out of his grasp. After a few failed attempts of moving away from the stronger man, Lindsay sighed and blew a brown curl out of her face._

_ "Don't say I didn't warn you." Clint raised an eyebrow at her and opened his mouth to ask what she meant when he felt a sharp pain in his stomach, which caused him to drop Lindsay's arm. With Clint doubled over momentarily, Lindsay flipped herself over the nearby chair which gave a bit of room between herself and the agent. "Told you." Clint didn't answer, he just quickly jumped over the chair and went to punch Lindsay, which she slightly dodged. His fist made contact with her lip, causing it to crack open again and begin to bleed. The young girl let out a soft cry of pain before swinging around and kicking Barton in the head. As soon as her foot connected, Barton grabbed her ankle and flipped her, making her fall to the floor. She didn't remain there long though; she grabbed Barton's ankle and twisted herself, sending him falling near her. Lindsay jumped up and tried to catch her breath as she walked toward her bed, putting even more space in between herself and the agent._

_ "Where the hell… did you learn… to do that?" Clint asked, attempting to catch his breath. Lindsay, with her eyes still trained on Barton, shrugged her shoulders._

_ "Here and there." Clint stood up quickly, reaching for an arrow from his quiver and taking aim at the young girl, who just stared at him calmly. "Are you going to kill me, Agent Barton?"_

_ "No," he said quickly, not moving his aim though. "You're just not making this easy."_

_ "You expected this to be easy?" Lindsay snorted, rolling her eyes. "Did you watch the video of me and Ward? It wasn't even a challenge, you SHEILD guys don't exactly fight teenagers." Clint didn't answer, he just did the last thing Lindsay expected him to do, he released his arrow._

_ The arrow lodged itself in the young girl's shoulder, which caused her to cry out in shock. The pain wasn't excruciating, in fact she would call it minimal, which she didn't really think about but should have considered it weird. She looked at it for several seconds with wide eyes before turning back to Clint, trying her best to comprehend exactly what had just happened._

_ "Like I said," Clint responded, slinging his bow back over his shoulders. "I'm not Ward." Lindsay opened her mouth to argue when she noticed something. The room was beginning to grow darker to her, and she was beginning to find it increasingly difficult to stand. Her knees gave out and she fell, only grabbing her bed at the last moment to avoid crashing her head into the hardwood flooring that covered her room._

_ "What…the hell… did you do?" she asked, finding it increasingly hard to form complete sentences. It was almost as if she were…falling asleep. _

_ "Neural tranquillizer coated tipped arrows," Barton explained as he wiped some blood away from a cut on his face caused by Lindsay's heel. "I needed to make sure I could get you where we needed to go."_

_ "By… drugging… me?" Lindsay asked, battling the toxin running through her body in order to keep her eyes open. Clint didn't respond to that statement, though Lindsay thought she saw some form of regret flash behind his eyes for a moment. Finally, Lindsay found it impossible to battle against the substance anymore and gave in, muttering something as Clint's face faded from view. "You…son of a…"_

_ Clint looked at the sleeping figure on the floor, finally able to drop the blank expression from his face. He wiped some more blood from the cut on his face and bent over to look at Lindsay. She almost looked peaceful, almost as if she were just napping instead of knocked out by one of his arrows. Speaking of arrows... He wrapped his fingers around the arrow still imbedded in her shoulder and pulled it out, throwing it back into his quiver to dispose of later._

_ "Target neutralized, returning to base," he said into his earpiece, which he expected Coulson and/or Fury to be listening in on. Sighing, Clint leaned over and shifted a piece of Lindsay's brown hair out of her face, his hand lingering on her cheek for a moment before whispering something only he could hear. "I'm sorry."_

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><p><strong>I hope you guys enjoyed! As always reviews are <strong>**appreciated. Have a great week guys!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.  
>As always, I don't own anything except Lindsay, the rest of the characters are owned by Marvel.<br>Reviews and Feedback are always ****appreciated!**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Lindsay didn't remember how tight the outfit was, either that or she had gained a few pounds since the last time she had put the black fabric on, which she refused to believe was true. As she walked back down the halls toward the bridge, she heard guitar chords echo from her pocket.<p>

"Shit," she muttered as she hurriedly retrieved her ringing cellphone from her pocket. She didn't need to glance at the number flashing on the screen, she already knew who was calling her. Lindsay took a deep breath to attempt to slow her racing heart and lifted the phone to her ear. "Hey Dad, what's up?"

"Just calling to check in." Tony Stark's voice rang through Lindsay's head as she leaned continued walking down the corridor. "What are you up to?"

"Oh you know," Lindsay began, quickly trying to come up with a convincing lie to tell the billionaire. "Just heading to class."

"At 8:30 at night?" Lindsay stopped dead in her tracks, how the hell was it that late already? She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, trying to think of ways to fix the situation she just threw herself into.

"Yeah, it's my… astronomy class!" she explained, quiet proud of herself fro coming up with that so quickly. "You know it has to be dark to look at the stars." Lindsay shuddered at how stupid that sounded before shaking her head. "Enough about me, what are you up to?"

"Just working on something new." Lindsay rose an eyebrow at his father's comment.

"You're making a new suit, aren't you?"

"Not exactly," Tony muttered in a way that did nothing to encourage Lindsay that he wasn't lying.

"Dad, do I need to call Rhodey and tell him you're doing something stupid?"

"No!"

"Then why don't I believe you?" she asked, cutting Tony off before he could argue with her anymore.

"Agent Stark!" Lindsay turned around and laid eyes on a girl, barely older than her, dressed in stereotypical SHIELD uniform. The girl's black hair was pilled on top of her head in a very creative bun that made Lindsay realize she wasn't that important to the organization if she had the time to do her hair like that every day. "Director Fury wants to see you on the bridge."

"Who's that?" Tony asked, knocking Lindsay back into reality.

"Just some freshman who has no idea where she is," Lindsay said, glaring daggers at the person in front of her. "I gotta go Dad, I'll call you soon. Please don't do anything stupid."

"Ok kiddo, I'll talk to you soon." Lindsay ended the call and sighed, leaning against a nearby wall. Did she feel bad for lying to her dad about being a SHIELD agent? Well, not so much lying as not telling him that's what she did with her time? Kind of, but back when she was seventeen and barely home, it was easier just telling him she was traveling the world with friends than to explain that she was throwing herself in life threatening situations for kicks. Well, not for kicks, but that's how he would see it.

"Agent Stark?"

"Have you ever been impaled by a decorative knife before?" Lindsay asked, not opening her eyes at the sound of the girl's voice.

"No ma'am," the girl replied, Lindsay could hear the slight fear in her voice.

"Well, unless you would like to experience that, I suggest you get the hell away from me." Lindsay opened one eye and looked at the girl, taking in her slightly shocked face. "Well?" Without a second thought, the girl took off in the other direction of Lindsay, walking almost so fast Lindsay would consider it almost sprinting.

"Still not a people person I see." Lindsay shifted her gaze toward the voice, taking in the sight of Maria Hill smirking at her a few feet away. Lindsay smiled at the older woman, shrugging her shoulders slightly as she stood up straighter.

"Just not a fan of people annoying me with trivial information." Hill rolled her eyes at the younger girl and walked along with her as they made their way into the main room where Fury, Steve, and Phil already resided. Fury was sitting near a computer, muttering things to one of the agents monitoring the screen while Phil and Steve stood off to one side, Coulson seemed to be talking about something that he found pride in. As Lindsay moved further into the room, she heard what he was talking about and fought the urge not the roll her eyes.

"It took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint, slight foxing around the edges but…"

"Coulson," Lindsay said, cutting her ex-handler off midsentence. Both men turned toward the young woman, who was smirking at them. "I don't think you realize just how much of a stalker you are coming across as right now."

"Oh no, he's fine," Steve said quickly, looking between Lindsay and Coulson.

"No Steve, don't defend him." Lindsay smirked and was about to say something else when one of the computers on her left began letting out a high-pitched noise. "What the hell?"

"We got a hit!" Lindsay turned toward the computer and watched over the agent's shoulder as he pulled up various security cameras footage. The person on the screen was tall, she would guess around Clint's height, with dark black hair that fell to his shoulders. Dressed in an expensive suit and carrying a cane, this was not the man Lindsay was expecting to see. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that he had compromised Clint, Lindsay might even call him attractive. "Sixty seven percent match. Wait, cross match. Seventy nine percent."

"Where?" Coulson asked, looking at the screen. The agent pressed a few keys and brought up another page, the video feed still going on the right.

"Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Konigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding."

"I would call that anything but hiding actually," Lindsay said, leaning forward slightly to get a better view of the picture. Fury turned toward Steve who was staring at the screen rather intently.

"Captain, you're up." Steve simply nodded and quickly made his way out of the room, Lindsay assumed it was to go get his uniform on. Once he was gone, Lindsay turned toward Fury and just stared at him.

"Well?" she asked, her voice neutral for the most part.

"Well what?" Fury asked, his tone matching hers.

"Are you seriously just going to make me sit here on my hands while Steve and Tasha go and take down the guy who corrupted Clint?" Fury didn't say anything for a moment before sighing and shaking his head.

"If I say you can't go, would you actually stay here?" he asked, making Lindsay smirk.

"Nope." With that, she quickly made her way out of the room in the general direction of where Steve went.


End file.
